Whispers
by this-book-has-been-loved
Summary: "They looked like you." It was a whisper Matt heard everywhere he went. It started when there began to be rumors of Voltron's return. For Platonic VLD Week: Tandem/Separation
1. Chapter 1

_They looked like you._

It was a whisper Matt heard everywhere he went.

It started when there began to be rumors of Voltron's return.

Matt had been freed from Zarkon's prisons by a small group of rebels only about a month prior. He'd joined up with the group, helping out on their search-and-rescue missions. Most of the other rescues had left to find their ways home. But Matt had stuck around. "I don't know how to get home," he confessed to the group's director. "And besides; I can't go home without my father. He and my friend are still out here somewhere. I need to find them."

But then the refugees they encountered started talking about robotic lions and paladin knights. "It's Voltron," they said. "It must be!"

Matt had heard the stories. Of course he had. You don't live in a prison camp without hearing tales of the only thing capable of taking out your captor. But that's all they had been—stories. Stories that were passed down from generation to generation, originating from an ancient civilization that no longer existed (or, some say, never had). Stories meant to give the children living under Zarkon's rule some lingering sliver of hope. He'd never put any faith in them. Never given them a second thought.

So when the first refugees started talking of Voltron's return, he'd dismissed it. "A large robotic lion," they regaled. "I swear it's one from the legends!"

But the stories continued.

"Five lions, joining together to create one robotic knight, wielding a blazing sword," one said in awe. "I didn't think it could be true."

"They saved me," a child told him, not a week later. "They saved my whole planet."

"The Altean ship, straight from the ancient illustrations," murmured a village elder. "I almost didn't believe my eyes at first. But the Castle of Lions truly exists."

And Matt started to think that maybe—just _maybe_ —they weren't entirely legends. Maybe there was some super-robot out there, fighting back against the Galra, against Zarkon.

And maybe they knew where he could find Shiro and his dad.

"I saw them," one alien was saying—a green figure, with a vaguely slug-like appearance, and eyes on the side of his head like a frog. "The Paladins."

"Who are they?" This was asked by a small blue femme creature, with piles of white hair.

"Unlike anyone I've ever seen." The green one shook his head, then looked askance at Matt. "They looked like you."

"What?" Matt asked, confused. "That's impossible. My species doesn't have the technology for intergalactic travel."

The green one shrugged. "I only know what I saw."

And the conversation stilled.

It was several weeks before Matt heard any more of the subject. They'd met with another ragtag band of rebels, working to discuss an alliance. And while their directors held conference, their bands mingled.

"They say one of the Paladins escaped from Zarkon's prisons," one of the other rebels was saying.

"I knew him," another one confirmed. "He fought in the arenas. They called him Champion."

 _He fought in the arenas._

Matt had frozen, his head racing. "Do you know his name?"

The alien shook his head. "Only Champion." He took another sip from his drink—some purple concoction they'd called nunvill. "Looked a bit like you, though. Where you from?"

"Far away," Matt replied. "There are very few of my kind out here. We…don't tend to leave our planet."

"Hm," the alien hummed. "Well, perhaps you should try reaching out to these Voltron folks. You may be closer to home than you realize."

Many quintants later, he encountered another group: a few rebels who had escaped or been freed from Galra clutches only to be captured again. Freed once more, they now sat in the infirmary of the rebel base Matt was staying at. He was there with them, bandaging a nasty burn one had on one of xir four arms.

The alien was watching him with a quizzical expression. "Have you heard of Voltron?"

Matt hesitated, then slowly resumed his work. "I've heard some stories," he replied.

"Ever meet the Paladins?"

Matt frowned. "No."

"Hm." Xe was still giving Matt that odd look, as though xe didn't quite believe what he was saying. "They looked like you. Never seen anyone quite like them before."

Matt paused, taking a deep breath. "Do you know their names?"

The alien shook xir head. "Never spoke to them." Xir piercing stare met Matt's eyes. "Anyone in particular?"

Matt sighed. "Just. Looking for someone."

And on the whispers went, _They looked like you_ , following Matt wherever he went.

"The Green Paladin," the alien said, a hulking red figure, reptilian in appearance, with curling horns. "They looked like you."

"What was his name?" Matt asked, frantic excitement showing through his voice.

The alien shook their head. "I'm sorry; I do not know."

"Well, what did he look like?" Matt tried. "I mean, just beyond looking like me. Was he a bit taller? Dark hair?"

The alien was still shaking their head. "No, no. They looked like you. Like a copy. Smaller, though."

That froze Matt in his tracks. "That can't be right," he said softly. "No, no, I'm looking for Champion. I was told he was a Paladin?"

The alien furrowed their brow. "I know the one of whom you speak," they said. "You are asking for the Black Paladin. But, I tell you, you should seek out Green one. What you think you are searching for and what you are actually searching for may not always coincide."

It was a while before he got any real answers.

A few travelers, reaching out from their own planet in an attempt to re-establish intergalactic communications. "Our planet was recently liberated by Voltron," they told Matt. "We were enslaved by the Galra empire, but Voltron received our distress signal and came to our aid."

They were a lithe green people, with large eyes and leaf-like antennae. Olkari, Matt's superior had called them.

One of them cocked her head at Matt, assessing him. "Do you know them?"

Matt pursed his lips. "I don't know. I'd like to."

The Olkari hummed, as though nothing about his answer struck her as strange. "You resemble the Green Paladin a great deal."

Matt sighed. "So I've been told."

"The Green Paladin told me that she was searching for missing family members." Matt froze. "She said that her father and brother had been taken by Zarkon."

Matt's chest tightened. " _She?_ "

"Yes. She looked like you, though smaller. Any chance you could be one she is searching for?"

He wasn't breathing right. "No," he gasped. "No no no no no, that can't be possible, it can't be her, she _can't be here!_ "

The Olkari reached towards him, holding her hands out in a placating gesture. "I apologize for startling you," she said gently. "Please, you must calm down—"

Matt took a step back wildly, bringing his hands up to clutch at his hair frantically. "Her name," he demanded, "what was her name?"

The Olkari hesitated, before saying, "The others called her Pidge."

Matt collapsed, gasping for air. "Oh god. Oh, _Pigeon_."

* * *

 _Katie was sulking._

 _He'd found her on the back porch, a light blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Her hands rested beside her on the step she sat on, and one of her legs was jittering with nervous energy._

 _He sighed. Bad day at school, he guessed. She was only twelve, but was already entering high school. She'd skipped seventh and eighth grade, jumping straight from sixth to ninth. And though she matched her new peers intellectually (or surpassed them, more rather), you couldn't really say the same physically._

 _Matt had gone through the same thing when he was about her age; suddenly being years younger than the rest of the kids in his classes, feeling so much smaller and more vulnerable._

 _He sat beside her on the steps. "Whatcha lookin' at?"_

 _She didn't look at him—just kept her gaze locked on the ground. "Nothing."_

 _"Well that sounds boring."_

 _She only grunted._

 _He leaned back on his hands, tilting his head so he could see the sky. "I don't know about you, but I've spent a lot of time looking down. I think I'd rather look up." The stars glittered above them, constellations sparkling in the night sky. "You got a favorite constellation?"_

 _"Matt, I'm not really in the mood."_

 _"C'mon, Katie, humor me for a minute here." He nudged at her. "I think my favorite is Cthulhu. Or maybe The Flying Squirrel. Or The Super Cool Older Brother."_

 _She was smiling now, even as she bit back a groan. "You're just making those up!" she accused him._

 _"Am not!"_

 _"Are too! God, for a space explorer, you'd think you'd know the constellations better."_

 _He shrugged nonchalantly. "You're right, I do know the constellations better. These are just ones that you haven't heard of yet."_

 _She barked a quick laugh, reaching out to hit him playfully. "You dork."_

 _He smiled. "You didn't answer my question," he reminded her after a moment. "Which is your favorite?"_

 _She thought for a while. "Leo," she decided eventually._

 _Matt raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? And why's that?"_

 _She shrugged, a bit hesitant. "Leo is the lion. It stands for being brave and facing your fears."_

 _He smiled. "Yeah. That's a good one."_

 _They fell into comfortable silence. Matt pulled the blanket around both of them, and they curled up together, watching the stars._

 _"Hey, Matt?"_

 _"Yeah?"_

 _"What do you think is out there?"_

 _He was silent for a while, thinking. "Adventure," he said eventually. "Excitement. Something entirely new, something we've never seen before."_

 _"Do you believe in aliens?"_

 _Matt hummed. "I don't know," he said. "Maybe not in the way we think of aliens. But it seems unlikely that in the entirety of the universe, we'd be the only lifeforms. It's just statistically improbable."_

 _Katie giggled. "I think they're out there," she told him matter-of-factly. "And I'm gonna meet them."_

 _Matt smiled. "I don't doubt that for a second."_

 _"You'll come with me, won't you?"_

 _Matt reached over to ruffle her hair. "Don't worry, Pigeon," he said. "We'll explore those stars together someday. I promise."_

* * *

 **AN** :

This was gonna have a third part to it but oh well

Platonic VLD week only just started and I've already missed a day . I'm sorry for skipping day 2, y'all. I'll try to make that up at some point.

Well. Have my Matt feels.

I love Matt? So much? He has literally like 4 lines in the entire series and we know next to nothing about him and yet somehow I've completely fallen in love with him

Hopefully I'll see you guys tomorrow for Day 4!

Thank you!

~ Brigit


	2. Chapter 2

The mission was simple. Get on the base, get the intel, and get out. With Matt's technological skills, it should have been a breeze.

But things started to go south when he and his team realized that they weren't the only infiltrators there.

The base was a Galra research lab—an outpost dedicated to weaponry design and testing. The head of the rebel group Matt had joined up with had heard of a new weapon, still predominately in the testing stages with only a few actual implementations thus far. And as soon as Hawkins received word of it, he set out a strike team to gather more information.

"We don't want to mount a full scale attack yet," he stressed. "We just need the intel. Then we can decide what to do from there."

Newley, a hulking blue alien with two sets of arms, was in charge; Keyo, a lithe purple-and-red creature who could pass as Galra given the right uniform, was along for weaponry backup; and Matt was there to take care of any technological issues.

It should have been an easy in and out.

Matt was holed up in a data storage room, already working his way into the system. Using the main control center would have been too big of a feat, since they wanted to remain undetected, so his team had located a small side room that still miraculously allowed access to the data servers. Newley was stationed by the door, and Keyo was just outside.

Matt had been given an ID chip with a fake login. The chip, while masquerading as a common Galra soldier's access code, provided a direct link to the data servers of Matt's rebel band. He was able to set the intel to transfer over easily, letting the upload progress without a hitch.

Glancing over from the doorway, Newley peered at the screen. "How's it going?"

"Twenty-six percent," Matt replied. "Should take a few more doboshes."

"Good," Newley replied. "As long as everything goes smoothly—"

Then one of the weapons storage rooms exploded.

The room shook with the force of the blast, and Matt stumbled away from the console, nearly knocking into the next computer bay.

Newley had braced himself against the doorway, steadying his footing. "What in the stars was that?"

Keyo appeared behind him, her blaster pulled from its holster and held tightly in her hands. "Guess we weren't the only ones who heard about this weapon."

Matt fumbled at the computer console, making sure the chip hadn't been knocked loose. "What do you mean?"

"I mean there's a saboteur," Keyo muttered. "We're not the only ones here. That explosion came from the west wing. That's where all the testing facilities are."

"Couldn't it have been a weapon malfunction?"

"Not the right kind of firepower."

"And these saboteurs just made themselves known," Newley added. He cursed. "It won't be long before the Galra find us too. We need to get out of here."

Matt's eyes stayed glued to the computer screen, watching as the progression bar inched to thirty-three percent. "Wait—"

An alarm started the blare, and lights began flashing red.

"They're putting the base on lockdown," Keyo shouted. "If we don't get out of here _now_ , we'll be stuck here."

"Then let's move," Newley decided. He turned towards Matt. "Holt?"

"We're only at thirty-five percent."

"Holt."

"Hold on."

"We need to _go_ , Holt."

"Hold on!"

Matt ran a hand through his hair in frustration. Logically, he knew he had to leave. He knew that the chances of them being caught were rising with every passing instant. But right now, all he could focus on was the weaponry being built in the base, the weaponry being built specifically to combat Voltron, to combat his _baby sister_. "As long as they have this information, they can rebuild these weapons," he stated, trying to organize his thoughts. "And unless we get this information, we can't figure out how to stop them."

Newley was silent for a long moment, weighing his options. Then: "What's the status?"

"We're at thirty-seven percent," Matt told him. "The data is being transmitted automatically to our own data servers, but I need to be here to disconnect when it's finished. If we leave now, the transmission will continue, but then the Galra will have full access to our servers through this ID chip. Or we could disconnect now, but then we'll only have a partial download."

"Then a partial download will have to do."

"But we _need_ this intel," Matt exclaimed.

"Holt, we don't have time to argue about this!"

"We can't go!" Matt insisted. He paused, taking a moment to collect himself. "Listen. I'll stay to monitor the download. You two get out of here. I'll meet you back at the ship once it's done."

"That's not an option."

" _Please_ ," Matt pleaded. He took a deep breath, pausing to collect his thoughts. "I have a personal stake in this," he murmured. "I can't leave until we get this information."

"Newley," Keyo interjected. "We need to leave. _Now_."

Newley sighed. "Fine," he said. "We'll wait twenty doboshes. You'd better be back by then."

Letting out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, Matt relaxed. "Thank you."

"Good luck, Holt."

"You too."

Then they were gone, and Matt was alone in the computer pod.

"Okay," Matt mumbled to himself. "Let's see what I can do about locking that door." He minimized the data transmission status bar, pulling up a different window. After a few keyed commands, he programmed the door to stay closed if anyone tried to open it.

With the door locked, he felt considerably safer, but still not safe enough to put him completely at ease. He stood there, constantly glancing between the closed door behind him and the computer screen before him. The flashing red lights didn't let up, and they did nothing to help his anxiety. The seconds dragged on, the status bar gradually inching forward, agonizingly slow as the numbers progressed. _Forty-two percent, forty-five, forty-seven, fifty_ ….

At fifty-eight, a second blast shook the room.

Matt gripped the console tight, trying to keep his footing.

Was that explosion in the same location as the first? Or could it have been coming from elsewhere on the base? He couldn't tell.

Time kept ticking forward. How long had it been now? Four doboshes?

And finally—

 _100%_  
 _Data Transfer Complete_

With a triumphant laugh, Matt pulled the ID chip from the console, slipping it into one of the pouches strapped to his belt.

And with that done, all he needed to do now was to find a way off the base—

There was a sound of pounding footsteps outside the door, followed by hushed voices. The indicator light on the handpad by the door lit up, and a message appeared on the computer screen Matt was standing by. Someone had tried to open the door.

Matt grimaced. Of course this mission couldn't have been an easy one. His luck just wasn't that good.

He pulled on his helmet, ready to jump into the fray.

"Alright," he whispered, keying in the command to unlock the door. "Here we go." He reached behind him, meaning to grab his staff from where it was strapped to his back before he opened the door himself, but he'd only started to lift his arm before the door slid open and there was a blue-and-white blaster pointed a foot from his face.

Everything froze. Matt stood still, holding up his hands in a classic pose of surrender, hyperaware of the staff still strapped to his back. Angling his eyes to see around the muzzle of the blaster, he took in his assailants.

There were two of them. They wore matching sets of armor—white, with colored accents—one detailed in red, the other in blue.

The blue one lowered his blaster, standing up straight as he took in the figure before him. "You're…not Galra."

"Neither are you," Matt noted, his hands lowering a bit as he relaxed. "Truce? Are we on the same side here?"

"You're the bug," the red one said suddenly.

"I—what?"

"Our…hacker was digging through the system," Red said carefully. "Saw they weren't the only one there. So we went to investigate."

"Oh. Yeah, that was me." Matt blinked, then smirked. "Usually I don't get caught, but I was in a bit of a rush. You're the ones who set off the explosives, then?"

"Gotta make sure this thing doesn't make it off the ground," Blue replied with an easy shrug. "Fighting the Galra Empire is hard enough as is," he muttered. "We don't need this in the mix too."

Matt raised an eyebrow. "Well, I wish we'd known we weren't going to be the only ones trying to sabotage this project," he said wryly. "Would've come some other time, when there wasn't a chance of some crazies setting bombs and getting the base shut on lockdown."

Blue winced. "Ah. Right. Sorry about that?"

A shout echoed down the hall, and Matt was suddenly extremely conscious of the fact that they were still on the Galra base, completely out in the open.

"Speaking of which," Red muttered. "We need to move! Let's get out of here." He took off down the hall, speaking softly into his helmet—a comm link? "We found the bug. Ready to go. Guide us out of here."

"Alright," Blue said, looking after him. He turned back to face Matt. "Guess you're coming with us? Cool. Let's go." And with that, he took off behind Red. After a quick moment of deliberation, Matt followed.

For the most part, their trip through the base went unopposed. Matt got the idea that someone else must have been plotting their course for them. What was it Red had said into his comm? _Guide us out_? If Matt had to take a guess, he'd say the hacker these two had mentioned earlier was telling them where to go, reading a map and maybe some life-form scans of some sort, leading them along the path of least resistance.

The sentries they met were few and far between, and were quickly taken out with a few shots from Blue's blaster. Any that made it too close to shoot at were struck down by Red's sword, or in a couple cases, Matt's staff.

"So," Blue started casually as Matt flung a sentry against the far wall with his staff, "You here on your own?"

"No," Matt replied warily, "the rest of my team already left the base. I stayed behind to finish my download. I'm supposed to meet them back at our ship."

"How many?" Red asked. "We want to make sure they all got out of here okay."

"We were just a small three-person strike team," Matt said as the three of them continued down the maze of metal hallways. "We were just supposed to gather intel and then get out. Launch an assault later, when we had all the information. But I guess you beat us to that, huh?" He shook his head wryly. "How much damage did those charges do, anyway?"

"Not too much," Blue confessed. "Just took out a few that were just about done. But we're planning on wiping out this whole operation tonight."

Matt paused, glancing at him in surprise. "The whole base?"

"Yep," Blue said, popping the 'p'. "We have a whole lot of charges set. I just hope they work."

Matt furrowed his brow. "Why wouldn't they?"

"We kinda cobbled them together a bit haphazardly," Blue replied with a shrug. "Bits and pieces of stuff found around the castle. But it's all pretty old. Let's hope they go off at all."

"If not," Red muttered, "we're gonna be in trouble."

"Please," Blue scoffed. "The lions have enough firepower to blow this place sky high."

Matt paused, mulling over what Blue had just said. _Lions_. And that wasn't the first thing that set him off either. In fact…the mention of a castle, the lions, the 'V' logo emblazoned across their chestplates—

"You're with Voltron, aren't you?" Matt realized.

Blue glanced over at him in surprise. "Oh, yeah, that's us," he said. "I guess we forgot to do, like, introductions or whatever—"

Blue kept talking, but Matt had stopped listening after those first couple words. A million thoughts were running through his mind at once. _Voltron—Katie—the Green Paladin—she's here—she has to be here somewhere—where is she?—is she alright?—and Shiro_ —

Blue snapped his fingers, jolting Matt back to reality. "Hey, you still with me?

Matt blinked, the world coming back into focus around him. "Yeah, I'm here," he said hurriedly. "I—"

"Good," Red interrupted. "Cuz we need to keep moving."

As if responding to Red's statement, the building shook with another explosion. Matt glanced over at his two companions in shock, but they seemed as surprised about it as he did. "That…wasn't you guys. Was it?"

Blue shrugged helplessly, and Red brought a hand up to his helmet. "Pidge," Red snapped into his comms. "What's happening?"

 _Pidge_. Matt froze, and time seemed to stand still around him. Of _course_ Katie would be their hacker, the one guiding them towards their exit. _She's right here, she's so close_ —

"Malfunction," Blue mumbled, breaking through Matt's thoughts. "The rest of the charges shouldn't be going off yet."

"Alright, change of plans," Red announced. "No more sneaking around. We're getting out of here _now_."

"Guess this is what we get for making our own bombs."

The two of them— _Paladins_ , Matt realized, _they're paladins!_ —took off down the hall, and Matt chased after them. "Where exactly are we going?"

"Hangar," Red called back. "Quickest way out of here."

"But _how_ do we get out? The base is on lockdown; all the doors are shut."

"You haven't met our hacker," Blue told him. "Believe me, she can get through anything."

Matt smirked. _Haven't met her, huh?_ "Even remotely? Or…." He paused, his pulse quickening. "Is she here on the base?"

"Oh, no, she's back at the castle. But like I said, she can hack anything, _anywhere_."

"I don't doubt it," Matt whispered.

They came to a stop outside the hangar doors. Red pressed his palm against the handpad, his other hand clenching his sword tightly. Blue hefted his blaster, aiming it towards the doorway, ready to fire at any enemies they may find inside.

The indicator light on the handpad switched from a flashing red to a steady green, and the door started to slide open.

The hangar bay was completely devoid of live. Several podships lined the walls, but there weren't any Galra soldiers or sentries patrolling the room.

Red took a step inside, glancing to each side before calmly stating, "Clear."

Matt and Blue followed him inside the bay, their footfalls echoing through the large metal chamber as they walked towards the exterior doors.

"Huh," Blue commented. "Would have expected there to be more resistance."

"It's a lockdown," Matt reminded him. "They'd have everyone move away from any potential exits."

Red stopped in front of the main exterior door. "As soon as this door opens, they're gonna know about it," he told them. "We're gonna have to put as much distance between us and this base as possible. We're don't want to get caught in the blast."

"Roger that," Blue said with a small salute.

Red pressed his hand to the scanner, and the door began to rise. Before the door was merely a few inches off the ground, an alarm began to blare. The room was doused in flashing red and purple lights as the alarm system assaulted Matt's senses.

As soon as the opening was wide enough, Red slid underneath, with Blue and Matt following right on his heels.

Laserfire whizzing past their heads, the three of them raced across the rocky landscape. The stars twinkled above them, the darkness of night doing well to cover their escape.

They paused for breath then they were what Red decreed as a safe distance from the base. Leaning up against one of the large boulders, he reached down to rub at his injured knee. He hadn't done that much running in a while.

"Is the rest of your team out?" Red asked him after a moment. "We don't want them getting caught inside when that thing blows."

Matt straightened, scanning the horizon until he caught sight of the small podship he came in camouflaged against the dark gray rocks. Two figures were standing by it, and even from this distance he was able to make out the distinctive forms of Newley and Keyo. "There," Matt said when he saw them. He held up an arm in greeting, and Newley mirrored his gesture.

"Good," Red replied. He brought a hand up to his helmet, making sure the comm link was switched on. "We're out," he announced. "Light it up."

A second later, one wing of the base erupted in a spectacular burst of flame, followed closely by the next section, then the next, until the entire base was awash with fire and collapsing in on itself.

"And that's the end of that," Red said triumphantly.

"Alright," Matt said, and the two paladins turned to face him. "Now that that's done…." Matt pulled off his helmet, meeting the widening eyes of the paladins. "Which one of you can tell me where I can find my sister?"

 **AN** :

So here's that next part I promised you like over a month ago .  
I've just been busy with, like, real life stuff. I went out and got myself a summer job like some kind of responsible adult, and this past Friday was the last day. So I'm finally free, meaning I had time to actually write stuff these past few days.

But school starts back up next week (going into my junior year of college aaaa) so I'll probably be pretty busy, so idk how much writing I'll get done at all. But, we'll see! I mean, _Singularity_ was written predominately in my morning Physics class last semester, haha.

Shoutout to my darling friend Sodapop for binge-reading literally all my fics yesterday, and for really helping me find the motivation to finish this ^_^ This is dedicated to you! 3

This was supposed to be short. It was supposed to just be a throwaway mission. But it got a bit out of hand and seemed to start developing on its own, haha.

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy!

~Brigit


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